Castle Rock VS. Parker/Littleton areas (Denver, Colorado Springs: jobs, hospital, house)

[lostonmulberrystreet]

We are considering a move from San Francisco to the Denver area. My husband would be working in DTC. We want quality schools with art/music programs, a reasonable (<40min.) commute, family friendly, and an open-minded, accepting neighborhood. From what I've already learned, I think that we will want to stay south of the city for commute times. Castle Rock sounds beautiful, but I'm little concerned about culture shock for our 3 kids. We live in the city and bring our own bags to the grocery store and shop at small stores. If we do want to shop at a box/chain store, we have to drive out of the city. We do see advantages of suburban life and think that overall it will be good for the kids; however, I'm a little weary of living somewhere that feels too isolated. Are there independent stores and restaurants in Castle Rock or just chains? Do people go into the city for events? How long does it take to get to the city during off-peak times?
Thank you for any input that you have.

[2bindenver]

You could live anywhere from Denver to Castle Rock and have good schools, shopping and an easy commute. Castle Rock, Parker, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Greenwood Village... all have community activities.

[tandr]

We have lived in Castle Rock for 7 years and just moved to California (south bay area) almost 2 years ago and boy do we miss Castle Rock.

A bit about CR: On a good traffic day it would take us maybe 20 minutes to get downtown Denver. It's a quite little town but when we left in 2005 it was starting to build up (movie theater and some other larger retail stores). Downtown CR has some great family owned stores and restaraunts. They have you typical stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, 2 large groceries store and an outlet mall. The only time I really went into any of the other surrounding cities is if I was shopping for something I couldn't get in CR.

In my opinion, Parker/Littleton and Highlands Ranch are just homes on top of homes. My sis-in-law lives in HR and it's just a sea of homes when we go there. To me, CR is kind of country living (more open space) than the other cities.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by lostonmulberrystreet

We are considering a move from San Francisco to the Denver area. My husband would be working in DTC. We want quality schools with art/music programs, a reasonable (<40min.) commute, family friendly, and an open-minded, accepting neighborhood. From what I've already learned, I think that we will want to stay south of the city for commute times. Castle Rock sounds beautiful, but I'm little concerned about culture shock for our 3 kids. We live in the city and bring our own bags to the grocery store and shop at small stores. If we do want to shop at a box/chain store, we have to drive out of the city. We do see advantages of suburban life and think that overall it will be good for the kids; however, I'm a little weary of living somewhere that feels too isolated. Are there independent stores and restaurants in Castle Rock or just chains? Do people go into the city for events? How long does it take to get to the city during off-peak times?
Thank you for any input that you have.

I do not think that living in Castle Rock is such a great idea for commuting to DTC. The reason is you have to drive all the time. Castle Rock has voted out of the Regional Transportation District and consequently is not served by the great bus and rail of the Denver Metro Area.

It does have a bus going back and forth called FREX with a stop in the DTC and Downtown Denver but it is not part of RTD and is funded from grant money which is not permanent funding, and it is no substitute for a fully functioning multimodal bus and rail which is available to people who are willing to pay for the service. It does have a bus system that is free within Castle Rock but is limited.

Yes, people will say that driving from Castle rock is a quick commute by car to the DTC but sometimes in the winter it is not always the best, and then you have to drive if the FREX does not fit your schedule. If you live in the Southern Suburbs of Denver or the Southern Parts of Denver you will have the amenities of the city but you will be near the big box stores.

There are cities like Littleton, which has an older area, has newer areas and is near big stores in the Southwest in Lakewood. It has a beautiful light rail station and good buses. Close to DTC.

There is Englewood, a small older enclave that has an excellent hospital, a new transit oriented development, independent stores and markets and again near large new stores--and a light rail station and good buses. Close to DTC

There is the Southmoor Park, Hampden South neighborhoods of Denver. Nice old established homes, long existing independent stores and a light rail station up from DTC and good buses. Close to DTC.

There is Platt Park, University, University Park, Welshire, University Hills, which are next to University of Denver and the eclectic shopping, near all the new big box stores and malls, light rail stations and good buses.

There is Lonetree which has the biggest mall. Excellent and easy access to Denver and DTC because it has light rail stations and more on the way and good call and ride buses to/from your home.

These are just some of the examples. Denver is not like SF. It is not as dense as SF. Denver is closer to the suburbs and borders the suburbs because it does not have water barriers like SF. The DTC is really an another Downtown of the Denver Metro area and is surrounded by new suburbs and older areas. It is also very easy to get to with multiple buses and commuter rail from the City of Denver.

So what I am saying you can have it all by choosing some of the areas that I mentioned or Denver proper--you can have the amenities of a city and the advantages of the suburbs. The major cultural attractions of the city will close and accessible. As a plus with the cost of gas and the dangers of driving--you have the resources of an excellent bus and rail system. Keep in mind that Colorado is now constructing the largest build out of commuter rail in the nation, an addition to the currently functioning system.

Castle Rock is nice clean bedroom community but it does not have the city amenities and certainly does not have the transportation options of getting around the whole Denver metro area. Castle Rock will never have a commuter rail station and has lost out of the opportunities because the voters could not see the future advantages of being in the transportation district.

Livecontent

[lostonmulberrystreet]

Thank you livecontent. that is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get. I think that if we do move, we will definetly stay closer to the city. We use public transportation daily and would love to have that as a viable option.

Originally Posted by tandr

We have lived in Castle Rock for 7 years and just moved to California (south bay area) almost 2 years ago and boy do we miss Castle Rock.

A bit about CR: On a good traffic day it would take us maybe 20 minutes to get downtown Denver. It's a quite little town but when we left in 2005 it was starting to build up (movie theater and some other larger retail stores). Downtown CR has some great family owned stores and restaraunts. They have you typical stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, 2 large groceries store and an outlet mall. The only time I really went into any of the other surrounding cities is if I was shopping for something I couldn't get in CR.

In my opinion, Parker/Littleton and Highlands Ranch are just homes on top of homes. My sis-in-law lives in HR and it's just a sea of homes when we go there. To me, CR is kind of country living (more open space) than the other cities.

I have to chuckle when you say that it's a sea of homes. Have you been up to SF much? It's rare to see a single detached house. I would love to live in a house where I can't hear my neighbor flush the toilet. Castle Rock sounds nice for people looking for the small town feel, but I don't think that it would be the best fit for us.

Try to enjoy all the great things that the bay area has to offer. If you haven't been to Big Sur it's worth the trip.

[drkc]

My husband also works in DTC. We moved to Littleton - Ken Caryl Valley from NY and absolutely love it!! The homes are spaced out more, plus it's heaven for outdoor activities! His commute can be as short as 25 min and typicaly no longer than 40min in traffic. Don't know much about schools there but have heard good things. It takes us about 1/2 hour to get to Denver. Downtown Littleton is OK with small shops and restaurants but definitely doesn't quality as a city. It's about 15-20 min so we much rather go to Denver.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by lostonmulberrystreet

Thank you livecontent. that is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get. I think that if we do move, we will definetly stay closer to the city. We use public transportation daily and would love to have that as a viable option.



I have to chuckle when you say that it's a sea of homes. Have you been up to SF much? It's rare to see a single detached house. I would love to live in a house where I can't hear my neighbor flush the toilet. Castle Rock sounds nice for people looking for the small town feel, but I don't think that it would be the best fit for us.

Try to enjoy all the great things that the bay area has to offer. If you haven't been to Big Sur it's worth the trip.

That is one more thing about Denver that I failed to mentioned is that it has many single detached homes that look no different than the suburbs that they are next to. Many times people are surprised that the areas are actually part of the City. That is because Denver is large and it took time for it to develop--especially in the South and Southwest Areas--like Bear Valley. In essense you can live in Denver, think you are in a suburbs but have many of the advantages of living in a city with transportation and close to cultural activities.

I want to give you these links for the bus and rail, RTD
The Regional Transportation District Home Page and the expansion of the system called fastracks FasTracks Home.

Many of the readers will know that I am obsessive about public transportation that is because I lived in NYC and a European City and saw how nice it can make your life.

Livecontent

[Charles]

Search through the Denver threads and you will see Castle Rock and Parker consistently are at the top of family friendly, amenity laden, good school communities. Plus both towns allow commuting to jobs in Denver and Colorado Springs.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Charles

Search through the Denver threads and you will see Castle Rock and Parker consistently are at the top of family friendly, amenity laden, good school communities. Plus both towns allow commuting to jobs in Denver and Colorado Springs.

Actually, the threads on Parker and Colorado Springs are in both the Denver and the main Colorado forums. I was mucking around today in the forums, cleaning up a lot of old threads, merging a bunch, trying to be consistent with where the Parker and CR threads were located in the forums.

Threads purely about Parker are in the Denver forum. Threads comparing Parker to other cities are in the CO forum.

Castle Rock threads are MOSTLY in the CO forum, but might be in the Denver forum if the topic goes there as well.

Using the search tool is best way to find data. I like the features of the Advanced Search, as it lets you RESTRICT searching to just a TITLE line of a thread. This is a key point, e.g., if using Advanced Search with keyword Parker, and select Thread Titles Only, it brings back only the threads where Parker is the topic. It will NOT bring back the hundreds of threads where Parker is only mentioned in passing. Using this trick is a way to find very targeted info on a town.

There are a lot more way to use search, like with mulitple terms (Parker Schools or Parker Commuting or Parker Crime etc). For this type of search, you need to select the criteria to search on ALL TEXT (not just title lines).

When using Advanced Search, be sure to ALWAYS select the state of CO, else it searches across all 50 states....a wasted search. You can also search for posts by a specific user name. If you select the main CO forum (not Denver or COS), the search will cover the entire state, and pick up any thread, no matter if its in CO, Denver or COS forums. Best way to search.

Very cool tool. Wish everyone used it before firing off a new thread; we've covered everything but oddly esoteric stuff.